The Centre has sanctioned ₹451.14 crore as its share for the implementation of the rural water supply initiative Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM) in Kerala during 2021-22.
The money is meant to implement JJM for providing functional household tap connection (FHTC) to rural households, support activities and water quality monitoring and surveillance (WQM&S) activities, the Ministry of Jal Shakti said in a May 13 order.
The amount forms the first installment of the central share for the implementation of JJM in the State, the State Water Resources Department said on Saturday. Kerala is implementing JJM works to the tune of ₹902.29 crore in the first stage.
As per the guidelines for the central initiative which envisions tap connections to all rural households, the Centre and State share the costs 50:50.
Part of the amount has been earmarked for providing connections to scheduled caste/scheduled tribe communities in the State, the department said. ₹63.47 crore is set apart for SC communities and ₹11.29 crore for ST category consumers.
The Ministry of Jal Shakti has noted that priority should be given to ongoing/completed schemes of erstwhile National Rural Drinking Water Programme (NRDWP) that can be retrofitted/augmented to provide FHTCs.
Before launching JJM, 17.49 lakh of the total 67.15 lakh rural households in the State had tap connection. Kerala hopes to provide the remaining 49.5 lakh rural households with FHTCs by 2024.